PHOTOS: Sergio Betancort
Dozens of people have filled one of the entrances of the Volcán hotel, declared illegal by the Justice, with banners and slogans against oil this Tuesday, where Minister José Manuel Soria has been staying for another summer since this week.
The protest was called over the Internet and started at 6:00 p.m. in Arrecife, where about 50 people gathered to leave in a caravan towards Playa Blanca. However, upon arriving in this town, several dozen more demonstrators joined.
Along the way, the caravan of cars made a stop at the new Repsol gas station in Playa Honda, where they displayed their banners. Afterwards, upon arriving at the Marina Rubicón marina, they made another stop at the old Berrugo houses, which were evicted after the construction of this port, also investigated for its illegality.
From there, the demonstrators walked to one of the entrances of the hotel, specifically the one that faces the pool area. A dozen anti-riot agents of the Civil Guard have been deployed in the area, as well as several plainclothes police officers. During the journey from Arrecife to Playa Blanca, the caravan also encountered several Civil Guard patrols, as well as a helicopter flying over the area.
The Civil Guard cut off access to the main entrance
Although the demonstrators did manage to reach the access door to the pool, they did not manage to access the main entrance of the hotel. The Civil Guard had cut off the passage to vehicles at the roundabout, and that is precisely why they opted to walk from Marina Rubicón.
After concentrating at the secondary door (where the agents had not yet arrived), the demonstrators also tried to reach the main door on foot, skirting the hotel. However, when they were less than a hundred meters away, Civil Guard officers prevented them from continuing the march.
In addition, at that moment the agents tried to clear the promenade, although they had to give up their purpose, since in addition to demonstrators there were also tourists walking through the area. In any case, the protest took place without incidents and there were no tense scenes with the security forces.
There was only an exchange of words between a demonstrator and an agent, after the latter told them that they were concentrating illegally. "You are illegal, I am in a public area!", the demonstrator replied. Finally, a superior intervened and the episode ended without consequences.
Shortly after, around 8:30 p.m., the protest began to dissolve spontaneously and the demonstrators began to leave the area.
